mout actd program handbook #1 experimental tactics ... - SpecOps

OMEGA TRAINING GROUP, INC.
MOUT ACTD HANDBOOK #1
EXPERIMENTAL TACTICS, TECHNIQUES, AND PROCEDURES
FOR THE INFANTRY RIFLE PLATOON AND SQUAD IN URBAN COMBAT
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Soviet doctrine have traditionally devoted much of their training to urban combat
exercises. Indications are that they believe such combat is unavoidable in future
conflicts. The threat of combat in built-up areas cannot be limited to countries using
former Soviet doctrine. Throughout many Third World countries, the possibility of
combat in built-up areas exists through acts of the national armies which may not based
upon any western or former Soviet model. American forces may also face the forces of
local warlords as well as insurgents, guerrillas, and terrorists.
a. Combat operations in built-up areas are conducted to capitalize on the
strategic and tactical advantages of the city and to deny those advantages to the enemy.
Often, the side that controls a city has a psychological advantage, which can
significantly affect the outcome of larger conflicts.
b. Especially in insurgencies, combat occurs in cities. In developing nations,
control of only a few cities is often the key to control of national resources.
CITY YEAR CITY YEAR
*SAIGON 1968 TYRE 1982
*KONTUM 1968 *BEIRUT 1983
*HUE 1968 *PANAMA CITY 1989-1990
BELFAST 1972 *COLON 1989-1990
MONTEVIDEO 1972 *KUWAIT CITY 1991
QUANGTRI CITY 1972 MOSCOW 1992
AN LOC 1972 RIGA 1992
SUEZ CITY 1973 *MOGADISHU 1992
XUAN LOC 1975 *MONROVIA 1992
SAIGON 1975 SARAJEVO 1994
BEIRUT 1975-1978 GROZNY 1995
MANAGUA 1978 *HAITI 1995
ZAHLE 1981 KINSHASA 1997
*Direct US Troop Involvement
Table 1-1. Cities involved during recent conflicts.
c. Built-up areas also affect military operations because of the way they alter the
terrain. In the last 40 years, cities have expanded, losing their well-defined boundaries
as they extended into the countryside. New road systems have opened areas to make
them passable. Highways, canals, and railroads have been built to connect population
centers. Industries have grown along those connectors, creating "strip areas". Rural
areas, although retaining much of their farm-like character, are connected to the towns
by a network of secondary roads. These trends have occurred in most parts of the world,
but they are the most dramatic in Western Europe where cities tend to grow together to
form one vast built-up area. Such growth patterns block and dominate the historic armor
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VERSION 7, 1 APRIL 1999